A Special and Honest Bond With My Hair

Do you remember days of that ten seconds of hesitation when you struggled to recognize someone familiar when they sported with different hairstyles and haircuts?.Or the time when your hair style played an important role during your reception and marriage time.Every women should have come across the above and I am not an exception too.I can very well remember the days where I had to choose my best hair-style to keep me in shape at least for the photographs that would come all through my life.Such is the importance of the role played by hair in a women's life in almost all important occasions throughout her life.

Being an important part of our body protecting our skull ,it also plays a part in protecting the self-esteem of a women.Also it helps us to remember one's face or say of how it appeal to other's eyes.You can appear like a women with a girlish look or boyish look , young ones  or  old grey ones , brunette or blonde or even like a fairy tale princess Rapunzel whose hair had been a messenger of love .My young five year old girl  is crazy about Rapunzel and pleads with me not to cut her hair into Dora style since she wants to grow a long hair. After all, who never wants to be a Rapunzel with long and strong hair.

Rapunzel's Long Golden Hair

I remember the days were I have always ignored my mother advise on nourishing my hairs with coconut oil, a natural conditioner for hair growth.But the oily face and the tightly brushed hair frightened me since it did not provide me the look of heroines I see in "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge or Dil Chatha Hai " heroines with free flowing hairs.As a result, I had dry hair , less growth , hair fall and split ends.I can't imagine to become bald soon.I then started to apply coconut oil to my hairs when ever I can at home.Sometimes ,I apply them for an hour before my head bath  just to make sure I get that free flow look on my hairs(smiles).Also,I can see myself telling and doing the same to my daughter as my mom did to me.Coconut oils are said to moisture the scalp of the hair by replacing the natural oils the hair losses by regular basis ,thereby helping the hair grow long and controlling dandruff too.

Even Egg whites are said to be such a good conditioner to the hair along with Fenugreek which provide shine to the hair.I also live by using a single brand shampoo for my hair ,mostly a anti-dandruff one after a long lesson learned. Having it all through my life,I have shared some special bonds with it throughout my life from my school days till now and I am going to share one such moment with you.

Click here to read a True Story that changed my perspective (+/-)

I was not a proud owner of a long hair but had a beautiful hair, straight and shiny inherited from my mother.I had few fans in my school who loved my hair.But everything changed when a girl named Sara joined my school.She had a very long hair that went below her hips and thick as my hand.Anybody in my place would eventually feel jealous of her.And so I did.Fate made us to sit next to each other and we had to became causal friends saying few hi's and few bye's.I was a reserved type but Sara was more than friendly and a gregarious taker.She made friends easily just because of her long hair.Some classmates nick named her as Indian Rapunzel.This made me sick and somehow I refrained making friend with her.But our fate had other plans.

One day, I met Sara with her Mom purchasing some goods when I went shopping with my Dad to the same shop in my area.We exchanged surprised glances and exchanged smiles.Then, on the same evening I saw Sara playing on the same playground where I usually play at the back of my house.Only then I came to know that she has shifted her house to my area.Damn it,Should I feel happy or sad about it?.I don't know how to react.Again, the same fate made us to meet together whenever we played there with the neighboring friends.

She took me by surprise dropping my way home one day.She was very friendly and my family liked her behavior.Incidently, I had my head bath and let my hair free on that day.She looked at me and said "You look so cute,Amirtha.You hair looks sexy" .Those words from her mouth astounded me of her down to humble behavior.I suddenly had a liking towards her.She requested me to come to her home too

We met often and every time we talked a lot about hairs.Beauty tips and stories always amazed us and we never feel tiresome talking about it for hours and hours.If anybody wonders,yes girls are always like that.Sara said that she liked having a straight and shiny hair like mine although her hair was long and strong.I also told her how I admired and wished to have hair like hers.We had a talk that extended about an hour and that paved way to our new friendship.

"What shampoo do you use Sara?" I asked her trying to get the secret of her long hair

"Shampoo, no way .I use only Sikakaai that my mother used to get from her home town in Paloor .There is a garden full of Sikakkaai that my uncle owns and we get it from there when ever we visit them"

"That sounds great.But it seems a lot of work with Sikakaai.I had used them once because of my Mother but I don't like it because I did not get enough foam that gives the complete satisfaction of cleaning my hair" , I said in turn.

"Yeah very true.My mother makes use of filtered water right after cooking rice for giving a soapy texture.Sometimes, we add milk to it and then rinse with water.This is what I do from the age of two .And since I had never used Shampoo I can't comment on it "Sara said with a smile

I could not believe what she said.Is she using Sikakkai all through her life till now? I though confused. .I was even doubtful of how far her hair gets cleaned from daily dirt by washing her hair like this.But the results I see here is enormous.She has a long and strong hair that one in thousands would have .And she was the only one in my School of about more than 3000 children.

The only thing that was common to us was that we both use coconut oil for our hair growth.We enjoyed our companionship and spend exchanging days playing in each other's home although sometime she made me feel jealous when some one from school dropped by her and appreciates  of how beautiful and long her hair was.

That day it was my turn to go to her home .As I  was ready to enter the doorway,I could see Sara's mom combing Sara's long hair and Sara was crying.She was telling her mom "I dont want long hair.See, Amirtha has hairs just below her shoulder and she feels comfortable taking care of her hair.It is only me who is suffering with such kind of pain taking care of my hair falling into loops " she said.

Before she could finish of, I could hear her Mother shouting at her."It is very easy to say.Don't you know how long and precious this hair is for you.Who else is gifted with such kind of hair".They both did not notice me standing at the doorway .

I slowly called , " Hi Sara". Both welcomed me inside and I asked her "Why are you crying." The minute I asked this question Sara's mother started to lecture me out of how good is to have a long hair.Most of her words were true and I have seen the outcome for myself.Sara was famous in our School and all the credits goes to her hair.

But now, I knew that there was lot of hard work and sacrifices behind it.Sara could not try different hair styles as most teenage girls would do.She had to plait straight at her back or let her hair free.The latter is almost impossible and also would look odd at this era.She has only option of tying up her hair plaiting neatly at her back.She needs helps since her hair falls easily into loops and make her cry.

After Sara was done I accompanied her to play outside.Then a lady who was passing by looked at Sara and said "Wow,what was beautiful long hair.Lucky girl". This time nothing affected me and I did not feel of jealous of her .I finally knew that to be popular and to be recognized it requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice from behind.

* The End  *

Now as I am writing this episode (click the above link) after 15 years ,I am still the proud owner of the same straight and shiny hair but has its own problems with aging and dandruff.I also observed all through my life that certain things made my hairs become aged soon .

Factors affecting my Hair's health

By drinking Tea , it leads to Pitham (Tamil word) developing heat in body 

Using Hair -Dryer continuously and for long damages hair cells

Changing Shampoo brands many times

Diminished Intake of Water

Avoiding Greens like Muruga Kirai (Drumstick leaves),and all other greens

Environmental Factors like Humidity, the Sun, the Wind, Pollution etc..

All the above factors can be controlled to some extent and I share few of my experience that gave me good results .

Causes and Remedy

Split Ends -it was one of the thing that affects my hair whenever I am more exposed to the weather outside and the heat inside.My hair being dry and brittle gets very much affected by it. And the one solution I found to bring good results is to trim my hair at least once a month.Also I had to keep my hairs moistured with a good hair conditioner.

Split Ends and Me

Grey-Hairs: I say a big No to hair coloring .I have a black hair and I completely love it until I see few grey strands ready to show out due to pre-mature aging of my hair.Some body told me not to pluck it as it may help spread the grey everywhere.So them I used to carefully select the grey ones and cut them one by one .It was a tedious process without any helper.Again thanks to the knowledge of my mom, she helped me out with Henna .And once in fifteen days use to color my hair .I was taught to mix a few tablespoon strong tea , one egg white (optional) and a little lime (optional) with the natural henna (free from chemicals) and soak my hair for about one hour in it after which I use my normal shampooing to get the natural color of my hair back.I was happy with its results because not only it covers my grey hairs it also helps me to control dandruff promoting hair growth along with its cooling effects it had on me

Powered Henna

Healthy foods for healthy hairs :I also remember the advice from my mother that eating healthy foods can promote healthy hairs.Now, I do the same to help my children .Some foods which I believe to do good to the hairs (since I am doing it ) are Almonds , almost all Greens especially Drumstick Leaves, lots of milk ( high protein content said to be the building blocks of hairs) and lots of oily Fishes .

Dandruff: At one stage,my dandruff was uncontrollable and left to a prey to falling of my hair.After shampooing , I start to itch my scalp around my head leading to flaking ,the more I itch the more I flake.My scalp was dry and the reasons were due to changing of water and shampoos coming from one country to another along with the change in weather.I tried some dandruff shampoo but they did not prove to solve my problem.Finally I recalled the one best scalp medicine that I have already used in India and asked my parents to send it to me to UK through a friend.

I now use them regularly before shampooing .After 15 mins of Scalpe medicine on my head , I then shampoo it with a Shampoo that has a mild surfactants.The results I have is something worth, less itching and less hair fall.Again not many shampoos have mild surfactants, which means they are  substances that decrease the surface tension of the water so that it spreads out easily giving you a rich lather when shampooing.There are many surfactants but generally the most "harsh" and commonly used surfactants are Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS) and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS).The SLS had been proved to cause dry hair quickly causing to strip the hair of its moisture and other essential oils.So try to find a Sulphate free shampoo in your local stores. If you get, you are lucky if not dont worry.In that case make sure that you use a very good conditioner to restore the moisture and oil back to your hair.Also look for shampoos with the right pH of 5-7 to repair the damage to your hair and scalp and to keep your hair healthy, shiny and strong. Before buying a shampoo, do these small check up and be free of worries.

Every women like me share a special and honest bond with our hair.By special I mean that the hair is a women's self-esteem and by Honest I mean that it pays you back of what you are with it . Love is always a two way street  - you give and receive it.  Overall , be honest in taking care of your hair by eating healthy , drinking lots of water and above all listen to what your mother or any elder says.They know better .

PS: Men's are not an exception here .They can also take care of their hair like how women's do.

I love writing reviews and participating in contests which always proved to be lovely truth when done for the Indiblogger. Dove's "Love is a two way street " contest had made me write the above post as honest and interactive as possible.And a special thanks for the Dove for it's gift hamper "Dove's New Nourishing Oil Care Shampoo".It made my day filled with surprise.Dove Shampoo has never failed to impress me with its results as it did with its Dove soap, my favorite.And here is a Ode to you

Dove into my hair

Made sure you care

Pruning it from dirt

Gave strands new birth

My hair now cascades free

Having got that love from thee

You may like to read my poem on the same "The Story of Rapunzel's Hair".I have converted a famous fairy tale story Rapunzel to satisfy the contest .